Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop — Attraction in Hamden

Beautiful area for a walk. The Mill River, which flows through the Whitney Armory site is on its way to Long Island Sound, has played a crucial role in its history. Eli Whitney, Sr. came to the site in 1798 specifically in order to use the water's power for running machinery; sixty-two years later his son turned the river into the first public water supply for the city of New Haven. For some decades thereafter, the river continued to provide power not only for the Armory's machinery, but also for pumping its own water into the network of pipes reaching New Haven's buildings and hydrants. Eventually it gave way, as a power source, to steam engines and electric motors, but it continues to this day to supply water for the city.

The low dam and waterwheels that Eli Whitney, Sr. installed made possible the Whitney Armory with its adjacent small settlement, Whitneyville. Like many another New England water-privilege site, but unlike the larger planned waterpower complexes such as Lowell or Holyoke in Massachusetts, the community remained of modest size. Constrained in large part by the natural limits on its water power, Whitneyville did not grow into an industrial city, but led him first in the 1840s to replace the waterwheels with hydraulic turbines, the latest advance in waterpower technology, and then to make the dam five times higher in 1860. The other purpose of this move - to form Lake Whitney as the as the first reservoir for the New Haven Water Company - was what paid for the construction of the dam we see at the site today. The creation of Lake Whitney in turn prevented further industrial development at waterpower sites upstream - by flooding them - thus leaving the Armory as southern Hamden's only industrial site until...

It was my first time at the museum. I was very excited for my son to make a boat to float in the water lab. We arrived a little after 10 and the water lab was off. We went inside and made a boat. The person working the museum said he would ask to have it tuned on. So we finished our boat and paid 8$ for it. Took it out and the lab was still not on… so I went back in and asked if I misunderstood him. He said he’d ask again to have it turned on. We went out and waited about 15 more minutes. At that point I was irritated and over it. So we paid 8$ for a little boat for no reason. I don’t think I’ll be back. They clearly don’t care about the kids having fun. My son was sad and cried as we left. There aren’t many places where kids can play outside like this and I was really looking forward to it. I probably won’t come...

I'm rating the grounds, not the museum itself as I've never actually been inside, nor have I seen it open. This is a beautiful place to go if you're looking for a nice place to walk! Just behind the museum the trail begins inside of an old covered bride that crosses a small river. There is a huge waterfall, a serene lake you can fish in or walk across using a small bridge that connects one side to the other. Despite being directly on Whitney Avenue it's pretty quiet and gives you the feeling of being tucked away in the woods somewhere. The grounds sit at the base of East Rock so you can easily hike up from the museum to the summit. I've never been able to find any trail markings so you've got to sort that out on your own, but...